They Came to Cordura (1959)

Director:

Robert Rossen

Writers:

Ivan Moffat (screenplay) &
Robert Rossen (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

June 1959 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | War | Western

Tagline:

Slashing Story of a Desert Warrior Who Fought His Way From HELL TO GLORY !

Plot:

An army major, himself guilty of cowardice, is asked to recommended soldiers for the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Mexican Border Incursion of 1916.

Plot Keywords:

Medal Of Honor | 1916 | Cavalry Charge | Cowardice | Pancho Villa

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Maj. Thomas Thorn
Rita Hayworth	...	Adelaide Geary
Van Heflin	...	Sgt. John Chawk
Tab Hunter	...	Lt. William Fowler
Richard Conte	...	Cpl. Milo Trubee
Michael Callan	...	Pvt. Andrew Hetherington
Dick York	...	Pvt. Renziehausen
Robert Keith	...	Col. Rogers
Carlos Romero	...	Arreaga
Jim Bannon	...	Capt. Paltz (as James Bannon)
Edward Platt	...	Col. DeRose
Maurice Jara	...	Mexican federale
Sam Buffington	...	First Correspondent
Arthur Hanson	...	Second Correspondent

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #19173) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Baroda Productions

Trivia:

During filming Gary Cooper arranged for his daughter to "date" gay actor Tab Hunter. He had previously arranged for her to "date" gay actor Anthony Perkins while they were filming Friendly Persuasion (1956), a film he hated.

Quotes:

Sgt. John Chawk: [of a hand-pumped railroad cart] Ladies and gents, this is the Spitball Express. Heroes ride free;
[eyes Adelaide suggestively]
Sgt. John Chawk: ladies at their own risk. As far as majors are concerned, the end of the line comes a lot closer than they think. All aboard!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Navy NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service: Hometown Hero (#2.21)" (2005)

Imperfect, overlong and superficially wordy but still an interesting story

Angered by the US President Wilson's increasing support the rising Mexican political leader General Carranaza, the former US darling Francisco Villa sends his group of rebels to raid a town in New Mexico before coming back over the border. Enraged by the audacity of the man, Wilson orders his troops across the border to catch and/or kill Villa. Part of the group he sends is Major Thomas Thorn, who has been given the job of assessing the men for possible awards – a comfortable job given to him by Colonel Rogers, a friend of his father. Fascinated by the nature of heroes, Thorn finds himself given command of a small group of them when he refuses to put Rogers forward for a citation. Thorn is keen to get to know more of the men but, with a captured woman in tow, the men are not as simple as their proposed medals would suggest.

Despite pretty much ignoring the interesting history that serves as a backdrop to this film, this is actually still quite an interesting film that was a lot rawer than I expected it to be, given the period in which it was made. In the early stages it was too basic and I worried that the whole thing would be as clunky as Thorn's early questioning of some of his "heroes", but gradually it got better as it went on and simple lines such as hero and coward were eroded away. This is not to say it is brilliant because it most certainly is not but it is certainly interesting for what it tries to do. It doesn't help that the script really labours the surface but lacks the ability to go significantly deep to really make an impact. However even with this, it was still interesting enough to hold me and I did enjoy the solid if simplistic moral debate that it delivered.

Rossen and his cinematography do great work with the wide-open landscapes but the former must also carry the can for not bringing more emotion out of the script consistently. As a result the cast do well without really excelling – with nobody guiding them deeper, this is really what I could have expected. Cooper is as solid as usual with what I suppose was a brave role for him to take. He deals with it well but perhaps wasn't good enough to really convince in layers – although he is superficially good enough. Hayworth doesn't have that great a character and her delivery occasionally gets a bit too over-the-top when asked to deliver more emotionally charged material, she has impact but I was looking for more pain and fear. The support cast work well with what they have been given to do. Conte, Heflin, Keith and Hunter are among those giving solid turns in support of Cooper and the raw story.

Overall then this is not a great film but it is an interesting one. Despite being over 45 years old it is surprising raw and willing to turn away from the simple lines of courageous and cowardly towards something that is much realer and well conceived. It doesn't go deep enough but it is strong on the surface – could easily have been tighter and dropped 20-30 minutes from the running time but is still worth a look for what it does do well.